Philosophical Questions: Society

Sep. 20th, 2025 12:30 am
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[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
People have expressed interest in deep topics, so this list focuses on philosophical questions.

Has social media been a net positive or a net negative for our society? Why?

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Books

Sep. 19th, 2025 11:52 pm
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10 Queer Pirate Books for Talk Like a Pirate Day

Ahoy, mateys! Today be International Talk Like a Pirate Day, and we be celebratin’ with a heapin’ pile of queer piratey books we fished up outta Davy Jones’ locker. Aar, I be shuttin’ up now, so as not to be subjectin’ ye’ll to more of me aaaatrocious pirate talk. The contributors to this here list be: Nina Waters, Dei Walker, Terra P. Waters, theirprofoundbond, Rascal Hartley, Linnea Peterson, Neo Scarlett, and Sebastian Marie.

Today's Adventures

Sep. 19th, 2025 09:42 pm
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[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Today we went to the Autumn Fest in Marshall. It was an evening event, and the day had cooled off considerably, so it was quite pleasant. We were lucky to miss the rain there -- it rained a bit at home and we drove through several showers. This event continues on Saturday and Sunday if you want to catch it, and it is well worth attending if you're in Illinois this weekend looking for something to do.

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Birdfeeding

Sep. 19th, 2025 02:01 pm
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Today is partly cloudy and warm.

I fed the birds.  I've seen a mixed flock of sparrows and house finches.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 9/19/25 -- I did a bit of work around the yard.

I picked half a dozen groundcherries.

EDIT 9/19/25 -- I watered the irises.

EDIT 9/19/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

The sky has clouded over, air is cooling a little, and I heard thunder.  I'm not sure it'll amount to anything, though.

EDIT 9/19/25 -- I did more work around the patio.

I am done for the night.

(no subject)

Sep. 19th, 2025 12:00 pm
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[personal profile] pshaw_raven
I am still enjoying Silksong and I will continue playing, but for now I need to put it aside. I'm getting way too stressed out, and since I usually play in the evenings, that's right before bedtime. I've even been taking my Garmin off when I play because it senses the rise in heart rate when I'm in these arena battles or boss fights. Tonight I'm going back to South of Midnight, which I was playing before we left on vacation. I was enjoying that a lot - good story, good gameplay, very engaging, likable player character, giant talking catfish.

I understand the why of Silksong being as challenging as it is, but I also don't think I need to keep banging my head against it every single night. I appreciate the reasons, and I enjoy a difficult game - I did Hyper Light Drifter at 100%, got most of Owlboy, Hollow Knight's Path of Pain, etc. I need a break :D

In other news, the replacement power box for the tower should be here today. We'll take down the dented one and if everything goes as planned (LOL) we'll only be offline for an hour while we swap over all the equipment. We'll need to run out to Home Depot tomorrow for bolts and anything else we might wind up needing, but with me assisting, it should go pretty quickly.

My neighbor now has one more chicken, making five. She keeps apologizing to me for how they roam into my yard, but I enjoy watching them scratch around, and they aren't hurting anything.

And I have noticed the weather station nearby that was reporting negative amounts of humidity has either been repaired or, more likely, replaced.

Follow Friday 9-19-25: J-pop

Sep. 19th, 2025 12:28 am
ysabetwordsmith: A blue sheep holding a quill dreams of Dreamwidth (Dreamsheep)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Today's theme is J-pop.

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Corncob Broth

Sep. 18th, 2025 11:40 pm
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I finished making the corncob broth.  \o/  It tastes delicious -- delicate, slightly sweet, summery, sunny, with notes of corn and grass.  This is sooo much better than regular vegetable broth!  If you dislike vegetable broth, this is well worth a try.  I now regret every corncob that I tossed straight onto the compost pile.  Also I'm annoyed that I only discovered this at the end of the season.

I started with this recipe for inspiration.  This time I used the 6 corncobs that I had, some dried onion chips, about 1/4 teaspoon white peppercorns, and three large sprigs of flat-leaf parsley.

Anyhow, I filled a tray of large ice cubes because I want to try this in stir-fry sauce to add volume.  I got three cartons that are about 1 1/2 cup each, plus a big one that is probably about 4 cups and suited for crockpot use.  I expect it will work anywhere I would normally use regular vegetable broth, possibly also chicken broth.

Next time I make this, and there will be  a next time, I will make it in a large crockpot as usual.  I'll use a quartered onion, and I might throw in something else.  I suspect that lemongrass would work great, and celery or celery leaves might.  Broths are flexible; you can toss in whatever you have or like.  With a large crockpot I can get a great deal of broth with minimal effort.

Recipe: "Three Sisters Succotash"

Sep. 18th, 2025 11:26 pm
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[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
I made this tonight. It's a summer favorite, so I wanted to write up our version.

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Today's Cooking

Sep. 18th, 2025 07:46 pm
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[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Today I made Three Sisters Succotash.  I want to write up my version because it's a bit different than the Iroquois-inspired one that I started with.

Then it occurred to me that I had half a dozen fresh corncobs, so I am making corncob broth to see if that's any good. 

9/18/2025 Lower Packrat Trail

Sep. 18th, 2025 11:23 am
mrkinch: Erik holding fieldglasses in "Russia" (bins)
[personal profile] mrkinch
I'd kind of planned to go sit on the bench at the top of Lower Packrat for a while, but the succumbed to the lure of possibilities at Jewel Lake (despite the chipping/occ chainsaw noise). I found nothing terribly exciting there, a Warbling Vireo and a Townsend's Warbler, but the Red-breasted Nuthatches were surprisingly numerous and loud, and when the sun came out the activity exploded. I heard a Swainson's Thrush and two Western Flycatchers on the way, and possibly a Wilson's Warbler, though just one chip so I did not report it. Surprise of the morning was two Northern House Wrens... ah, just twigged to why they were right there. Stacks of brush are perfect habitats for NHWR, I saw this a few years ago up in the eucalyptus grove along Nimitz Way, and the chipping operation has not gotten as far as the road across from the Lake. The wrens were buzzing loudly and even singing a bit. But those lovely piles won't be there long. The list: )

Rain has disappeared from the forecast, big surprise.

Artificial Intelligence

Sep. 18th, 2025 02:52 pm
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[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
An argument that large language models should be called goLLuMs

There is so much potential for satire and mockery here.  :D

Birdfeeding

Sep. 18th, 2025 02:20 pm
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[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Today is mostly sunny and hot.

I fed the birds.  I've seen a few sparrows and house finches.

EDIT 9/18/25 -- I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 9/18/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 9/18/25 -- I did more work around the patio.

EDIT 9/18/25 -- I watered the patio plants.








.
 

Good Doctors

Sep. 18th, 2025 07:49 am
pshaw_raven: (Good Medicine)
[personal profile] pshaw_raven
A horse, a horse! My kingdom for a ... doctor who isn't a dipshit.

Actually my current PCP isn't exactly a dipshit, he's just not really the right doctor for either me or Fox. Yeah, we see the same guy. But Fox actively dislikes him, and I'm just tired of dealing with him, so we're finding new ones to see. Fox found someone in literally the same office, and I'll be calling the office next door, which has two likely candidates.

Ideally I'd like a doctor who is athletic, but I'll settle for someone who at least acknowledges that *I* am and that my activity levels can make me a little different from the usual run of 49 year old women. I'd personally point to the time my current doctor suggested I get out an walk, and then said there's a mile loop around the complex, and I should try doing two loops for two miles in under thirty minutes. And he said all this without ever asking me if I exercised and/or what I did. He also apparently doesn't acknowledge or can't remember that I do strength training.

Finally, I'm fed up with the liver biopsy push. I saw a liver specialist and had extensive blood panels done on top of a deep tissue ultrasound to look for scars and hardening, and they found exactly nothing wrong. But the current doctor just looks at lab results, makes recommendations on that, and doesn't bother asking questions about lifestyle, family history, or anything else. He just sees that ALT is 40 when it should be 25 this time around, ignores that it was normal last time, and I'm so tired of arguing with him. I'm not going to stop working out for a week to ten days just to have "good" blood work.

Anyway.

I have never really wanted a ball cap, I suspect I look like a massive dork in them. However, I have done some soul-searching and made peace with the fact that ball cap or no, I am actually a massive dork. And I have never needed or wanted a ball cap the way I need and want this one.

I wrote my thesis on Anais Nin's diaries. (Sorry about the lack of umlaut but I don't feel like switching to the international keyboard.) I can still talk the bark off a tree about interiority, exhibitionism, and the importance Nin placed on erotic episodes in her journals. Unfortunately, I no longer have the collection of books I used - that all got left in Louisiana when I moved, and Ex Husband likely tossed out or sold them. It would probably be worth my while to start rebuilding that portion of my library.

Hobbies: Embroidery

Sep. 18th, 2025 12:32 am
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Folks have mentioned an interest in questions and conversations that make them think. So I've decided to offer more of those. This batch features hobbies.

Embroidery is a fibercraft hobby of making things from colored thread on fabric. If you feel frustrated by planned obsolescence, artificial intelligence, and other current issues then consider embroidery as a form of protest. Make something beautiful that will last.

On Dreamwidth, consider communities like [community profile] crafty, [community profile] cross_stitch, [community profile] everykindofcraft, [community profile] get_knitted, [community profile] justcreate, [community profile] sewing, and [community profile] sewing101.

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Hopescrolling

Sep. 17th, 2025 11:34 pm
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[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Consider Hope-Scrolling

Today’s goal is to boost your mood, inspire positivity, and restore some bits of faith in humanity. Now is the time to acknowledge the importance of regularly searching for hope and applying the benefits. The hip new slogan for this process is known as hope-scrolling.


I aim to do this as a counterbalance to the often dark things I post regarding climate change, activism, etc. It's challenging because there aren't as many positive news sites as mixed or gloomy ones, and they don't update as often. Sometimes I can find good science news. I used to pull fun educational things or amusing animal videos from YouTube, but I don't really want to support a site that's mistreating its users. :/ Still, I'm always keeping my eye out for sources of upbeat news.

Genocide

Sep. 17th, 2025 11:13 pm
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[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
U.N. Commission Finds That Israel Is Committing Genocide in Gaza: What Does It Mean?

On Sept. 16, the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory (COI) published a report finding that Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. The Commission concluded that Israel has committed four of the five underlying acts of genocide listed in the 1948 Genocide Convention (killing, causing serious bodily or mental harm, deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about physical destruction, and imposing measures intended to prevent births), and that it has done so with the specific intent to destroy Palestinians as a group. The commission’s findings build on its earlier reports that considered crimes against humanity and war crimes.


Took them long enough.  While this does not really change anything, it is a useful stick to beat people with when they claim that Israel's actions are okay and protesting them is wrong.

Space Exploration

Sep. 17th, 2025 10:25 pm
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
The violent collisions that made Earth habitable

The violent final 1% of planetary formation may decide which worlds could host life.

Late-stage planetary collisions reshaped Earth and its neighboring planets, delivering water, altering their atmospheres, and influencing their tectonics. New findings suggest these violent impacts were central to both planetary diversity and the origins of habitability
.

Today's Adventures

Sep. 17th, 2025 08:15 pm
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[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Today we went into Mattoon.

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9/17/2025 Inspiration Trail

Sep. 17th, 2025 12:42 pm
mrkinch: Erik holding fieldglasses in "Russia" (bins)
[personal profile] mrkinch
Today was the third of three clear, hot days this week, good weather for getting out there and back early. I was at the top of the rise by dawn and by the time I was there again two and a half hours later it was warmer than I like. Two warblers, a Townsend's and a Yellow, were the only incoming migrants. Migrants I thought had left were Western Wood-pewee, Western Flycatcher, Swainson's Thrush, and two Black-headed Grosbeaks who seemed to be heading west. The Western Tanager I think was just passing through. I was surprised to see a single American White Pelican on San Pablo Reservoir; I think they're around all year now. The list: )

There's a chance of rain tomorrow night. I'll believe it when I hear it!

Birdfeeding

Sep. 17th, 2025 02:34 pm
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Today is mostly sunny and hot.

I fed the birds. I've seen a mixed flock of sparrows and house finches.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 9/17/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 9/17/25 -- I did more work around the patio.

EDIT 9/17/25 -- I did a bit of work around the yard.

EDIT 9/17/25 -- I did more work around the yard.

I watered the new picnic table, old picnic table, telephone pole garden, and a few savanna plants.

Cicadas and crickets are singing.

As it is now dark, I am done for the night.

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